Federal Grant Award Summary

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center received a $243,000 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), effective May 19, 2026, with a completion date of April 30, 2028. This award supports basic and translational research investigating the mechanisms of Chronic Ductopenic Rejection (CDR), the most common immunologic cause of liver allograft failure in pediatric transplant patients. The project delivers research services focused on understanding fibroblast-cholangiocyte interactions in CDR pathogenesis through development and analysis of primary human cholangiocyte organoid models.

The research initiative produces scientific knowledge regarding portal fibroblast (PF) population dynamics and their contribution to cholangiocyte senescence and progressive fibrosis in CDR. Specifically, the project examines the mechanistic role of dysfunctional PF populations—including expanded CXCL9+ fibroblasts that promote cholangiocyte senescence and the loss of IL-33+ fibroblasts that normally support cholangiocyte restoration—utilizing a multiome single-nuclear RNA and single-nuclear ATAC-seq dataset derived from human normal and CDR liver tissue. This research addresses a critical knowledge gap, as CDR does not respond to standard T-cell directed immunosuppression, and findings may identify novel therapeutic approaches to prevent retransplantation in pediatric liver transplant recipients.